Heartless thieves who broke into a Nambour charity store have taken much more than thousands of dollars worth of Christmas takings.
More than 1200 children in need in impoverished communities in Malawi, Kenya, India, Israel and Fiji were to benefit from the money stolen over the weekend when thieves struck the Neighbours Aid Community Store.
The money would’ve contributed to a majority of the costs of a new classroom or delivered sporting facilities to kids living in mud huts.
Instead volunteers at the popular community store were left to wait as police dusted for fingerprints in a bid to find those responsible for the break-in which happened on Howard St between 1pm Saturday and Monday morning.
Neighbours Aid founder Jesma O’Hara said it was disappointing for volunteers who gave their time and those who donated goods to see the store broken into.
She said cash was not usually kept on premises and suspected the thieves had to have studied the store and procedures for some time before striking.
“They (thieves) do it periodically,” she said, adding security measures had been beefed up since the weekend’s incident.
She said it looked like thieves had spent the weekend in the store, with mattresses used and ice blocks eaten.
She said the CCTV camera had also been turned away where thieves had entered in the rear of the store before breaking into the manager’s office.
The thieves used tools in the store to do the damage, Ms O’Hara said.
“We’re looking at hundreds of dollars to replace (doors and locks),” she said.
She said they had insurance, but it was frustrating to be disrupted at this time of year.
“They really went to a lot of trouble,” she said, noting the sophistication of the break-in compared to previous incidents.
“We bank daily usually,” she said.
“We don’t normally keep money on premises.”
Ms O’Hara said it was extremely disappointing to the 50-60 volunteers at Nambour to see people targeting a charity.
“There’s no need to steal from disadvantaged kids who have no back-up,” she said.
“There’s no welfare for these kids (disadvantaged kids helped by the charity).
“It’s taking the fruit of a lot of people’s efforts.”
Ms O’Hara and her husband founded Neighbours Aid 14 years ago and Nambour is the biggest store in the group.
She said it would be nice to think the thieves may have a change of heart and hand the money back, but was not hopeful, instead asking anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.